278 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 2(i, 1916. 



COTTON. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 

 Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under dates Jul}* 10 and 25, 191(i, 

 respectively, with reference to the sales of West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton: — 



West Indian Sea Island cotton has been in moderate 

 request since our last report; the sales amount to about 100 

 bales, cliiefly St. Vincent 19f/. to 23d., St. Kitts 20rf. to 21rf., 

 St Eustatius at 16i(7., and stains lOJ;'/. to 12d. Prices 

 remain firm. 



West Indian Sea Island cotton has continued firm in 

 price since our last report (July 10), particularly as there is 

 some rumour of damage to the Carolina crop by storms. The 

 sales amount to about 150 bales, including St. Eustatius lS»f. 

 to 19(/. St. Kitts 20<Z..: Antigua 1.5|rf. and Trinidad 18rf.: 

 with a few stains at lOAd. 



The stock remainin.ir iu Liverpool is very .-^mall. 



COMPARATIVE SPINNING TESTS OF 

 FINE STAPLE COTTONS. 



A Bulletin that is "f interest to growers of, and 

 merchants, manufacturers and dealers in, Arizona-Egyptian, 

 Sea Island and Sakellarides Egyptian cottons and cotton 

 yarns, is No. 359, of the Office of Markets and Rural 

 Organization of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. This publication deals with .comparative spinning 

 tests of the different grades of the cottons mentioned, and 

 is of interest in connexion with related matters discus.sed 

 at the recent West Indian Cotton Conference. Although 

 there is not much in this Rulletin that affects directly West 

 Indian grades of Sea Island cotton, it forcibly .shows the 

 scientific character of the American effort to introduce new 

 kinds of cotton. In the West Indies, we need to have tests 

 carried out equally scientificallj'. 



The tests showed that with respect to grades, 4 bales 

 of Arizona-Egyptian were proportionately less wasty than 

 2 bales of Sea Island cotton from Georgia, and 2 bales 

 of Sea Island were proijortionately less wasty than 3 bale.s 

 of Sakellarides from Egyi)t. There was no relation in the 

 price of the different kinds of cotton to the percentages 

 of waste discarded in the manufacturing processes. The 

 rever.se condition developed, namely, Arizona-Egyptian 

 cotton was estimated to be lower in commercial value than 

 Sea Island, and Sea Island to bo lower than Sakellarides, 

 when comparing . equivalent grades. There was no signifi- 

 cant relationship between the tensile strength of the 

 respective grades of Arizona- Egyptian cotton. The difference 

 in the tensile strength of yarn made from the three kinds 

 of cotton was practically negligible. Considerable deviation 

 occurred varying .slightly in favour of first one kind then 

 another, but, as a whole, resulting somewhat in favour of 

 the Sakellarides Egyptian cotton, with the Sea Island coming 

 second. However, the tensile strength for the highest 

 number (if yarns was in favour of the Sea Lsland cotton. 



The tests which gave the foregoing results were con- 

 ducted at the New Redford Textile School, New Bedford, 

 Massachusetts. It is hoped that in the near future 

 facilities such as are afforded by this textile school may be 

 available for the investigation of I'.ritish-grown cotton, in the 

 United Kingdom. 



THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON THE 



PROPERTIES OF SOILS. 



With a view to investigating the effect of climate on 

 the properties of soils, interesting experiments have been 

 conducted simultaneously at the Maryland, the Kansas, and 

 the California Agricultural Experiment Stations. Plots of 

 soil 5 feet by 5 feet were transferred from one station to 

 another so that at each station there existed the local soil 

 plot, and the two introduced plots. As well as this there 

 was a local check plot- of soil undisturbed. 



It has been found that soils change raarkedlv in colour 

 in a period of seven years, and perhaps less, when moved 

 to other climates. For example, Kansas ard Maryland soils 

 at California become more deeply reddish in colour: Cali- 

 fornia and Kansas soils become bleached to a light grey or 

 yellowish grey at Maryland. The differences are so great that 

 samples of any one original soil from the three different 

 stations to-day show no outward resemblance among them- 

 selves, but appear to represent three very distinct soil types. 



In general, the hygroscopic coefficient, the moisture 



equivalent, and the wilting point of any of the soils 



increase when the soil is placed at California. Some excep- 

 tions to this rule are noted. 



In general, bacterial numbers increase in arid soils 

 placed under humid condition.s. In general, also, the opposite 

 is true for humid soils. The Maryland soil offers an excep- 

 tion to the latter rule. 



Ammonification, nitrification, and nitrogen fixation 

 follow the general trend of the bacterial counts as 

 described iu the last section. The general trend, however, 

 applies in the case of nitrification to certain forms of nitro- 

 gen only. In the case of other forms of nitrogen very peculiar 

 conditions exist, which are fully explained above. 



Cellulose destruction by soils proceeds with greater rapid- 

 ity under arid than under humid conditions with any given 

 soil type. Cellulose destruction, therefore, appears to follow 

 in general the opposite course of other micro-organic activity 

 in .soils affected by climate. 



Marked changes in the arid soluble constituents of soUs 

 are wrought by climatic effects. It is difficult to generalize 

 with respect to them, but it may be said that soils may often 

 obtain accretions of the different constituents when removed 

 from one climatic environment to another. Thus, for example, 

 the California .soil increases in lime at Kansas, and Maryland, 

 particularly at the latter station, and loses in iron. The 

 general tendency is for soils to increase in iron and decrease 

 in alumina, when placed under arid conditions, and nice 

 I'ersa. 



Phenomenal losses in certain constituents in five years 

 seem to have occurred in some soils even when the latter were 

 not moved. Thus, for example, the Maryland soil loses in 

 the period named enormous quantities of magnesia. 



Very interesting data are submitted on the total water 

 soluble constituents in the soils studied. Large increases 

 occur in the California soil in that respect when it is moved 

 to the Kansas or Maryland stations. On the other hand, 

 the Maryland soil gains in water soluble matter when moved 

 to Kansas or to California. 



The brief summaiy given above is merely fragmentary;, 

 the reader must seek a true picture of the variety and 

 extent of the data obtained in the original paper in Soil 

 Science for .January 1916 (Vol. I, No. 1). 



